Marc Myers writes daily on jazz legends and legendary jazz recordings

April 09, 2013

Phil Spector: BBC Documentary

One day, there will be an opera called Phil Spector. For now, we'll have to be satisfied with The Agony and Ecstasy of Phil Spector, an unusual and brilliant documentary by the BBC. Recently, HBO aired Phil Spector—a docu-drama of the famed producer's murder trial starring Al Pacino and Helen Mirren. But the David Mamet-directed film received something of a critical "whatever."

By contrast, the BBC did a masterful job of meshing Spector-produced music, trial footage, music analysis and startling interview tape with Spector himself—from the '70s and just before the start of his trial in 2007.

About

Marc Myers writes on music and the arts for The Wall Street Journal. He is author of "Why Jazz Happened" (Univ. of California Press). Founded in 2007, JazzWax is a Jazz Journalists Association's "Blog of the Year" winner.